A federal judge has cleared the way for the Trump administration to shift the leadership of the U.S. African Development Foundation and significantly downsize its operations — stating that USADF’s president and CEO, Ward Brehm, would not suffer the “irreparable harm” required to qualify for the temporary restraining order he was seeking.
“The heart of the problem is that Brehm has not identified any cognizable irreparable harm to himself as opposed to potential harm to the agency and its partners,” wrote U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in an order issued Tuesday night. “Without a showing of irreparable harm, ‘even a strong merits argument cannot secure a temporary restraining order at this juncture.’”
That doesn’t mean Leon’s decision stands forever, or that U.S. President Donald Trump’s initial pick to head USADF — the State Department’s director of the Office of Foreign Assistance, Peter Marocco — can become president or claim a seat on USADF’s board.
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
